Sony granted patent for beaming information into the brain

Sony has been granted a patent in the United States for beaming sensory information into the brain. There are multiple applications for this patent; it could be used to create games in which you can smell, taste and touch but it could also help blind and deaf people.

Niels Birbaumer, a neuroscientist at the University of Tuebingen in Germany, told New Scientist he had looked at the Sony patent and "found it plausible." Birbaumer himself has developed a device that enables disabled people to communicate by reading their brain waves.

Sony stated that it hasn't done any experiments, the patent was based on inspiration that this might be used someday in the future. This could allow the development of real virtual worlds in which you can touch, smell and taste.